Hydrogen energy electronic control lands in diverse scenarios. A Suzhou "unicorn" cultivation enterprise secures nearly 100 million yuan in a Pre-A series financing | Exclusive from 36Kr
Text | Zhang Bingbing
Editor | A Zhi
36Kr learned that recently, Suzhou Suyu Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Suyu Technology") completed a series of Pre - A (Pre A, Pre A+, Pre A++) round financing. This round of financing was jointly invested by Topband Co., Ltd., Jiaqiao Capital, Jiangsu Jinqiao Fund, and Bosung Precision, and the old shareholder Wujiang Dongfang State - owned Assets continued to increase its investment. The financing amount was nearly 100 million yuan.
Founded in 2021, "Suyu Technology" positions itself as an integrated electronic control platform service provider in the hydrogen energy application scenario. Facing the new electrified energy system, it delves into zero - carbon scenarios such as low - altitude economy, new energy interconnection, electrified transportation and travel, and provides comprehensive solutions for integrated hydrogen - electric systems. It has been recognized as a national high - tech enterprise and a "unicorn" cultivation enterprise in Suzhou.
The core team members come from domestic and foreign universities such as the University of Manchester, Technical University of Munich, Nanyang Technological University, Beihang University, and Harbin Institute of Technology, as well as Fortune 500 companies such as Huawei, Inovance, SAIC, and National Instruments. The proportion of postgraduate and doctoral students is 100%, and they have rich experience in the research and development of power electronics systems, control systems, and hydrogen - electric coupling systems.
In 2023, "Suyu Technology" successfully independently developed the industry's first fully integrated electronic control architecture certified by Class 3. Through high - level hardware integration, parallel and expandable software architecture, and user - programmable application ecosystem, it achieved a 20% reduction in equipment cost, an 80% reduction in labor cost, and a 50% shortening of the product iteration cycle.
The Integrated Electronic Control Platform Becomes the "Greatest Common Divisor"
Against the background of carbon neutrality, it is an irresistible trend for the energy mainstay to shift from fossil energy to non - fossil energy. In the future, centered on electricity, wind power, photovoltaics, hydrogen energy, and lithium batteries will form a large - scale smart energy system. However, there are problems of intermittency and volatility in the grid connection of large - scale electrified new energy, which requires a reliable energy storage carrier.
Traditional lithium - battery energy storage is difficult to meet the long - term energy storage demand. Hydrogen energy can achieve long - cycle and large - scale storage of electrical or thermal energy, ensuring the safe and stable operation of the future high - proportion renewable energy system.
Dong Zhen, the chairman of "Suyu Technology", believes that high - quality electronic control is the key factor to ensure the stable operation of power - electronic new energy systems, and an integrated hydrogen - energy electronic control solution considering multiple energy forms is the core competitiveness. However, at present, due to the complexity of the hydrogen - electric system and its dependence on high - integration and high - frequency power electronics, the industry has not yet formed a new electronic control architecture developed entirely based on the needs of the hydrogen - electric system. It is crucial to develop an electronic control architecture that is fully self - developed in the industry, highly integrated in software and hardware, and meets the industry's demand for secondary programming and development.
Dong Zhen, the 31 - year - old founder, obtained a bachelor's and master's degree from the "Elite Program" of Harbin Institute of Technology in 2018, then went to the University of Manchester in the UK to pursue a full - scholarship doctorate in electrical new energy, and later served as a researcher at the Institute of Intelligent Control and Smart Energy (ICSE) of the University of Warwick, responsible for the offshore hydrogen energy direction. With experience in complex new energy collaborative control and in - depth research on various new energy sources, he targeted the hydrogen energy track.
"The development of hydrogen energy should not be limited to a single application, but should create more new value scenarios." Dong Zhen further explained that in the hydrogen energy industry chain, the electronic control system is like the "nervous system", which determines the energy conversion efficiency and scenario adaptability. The integrated electronic control platform of Suyu Technology breaks through the shackles of the traditional discrete architecture, and its core advantages are reflected in three aspects:
In terms of hardware innovation, through the high - integration application of high - frequency power electronic devices, the power density is increased by 20%; the unique multi - module parallel self - current - sharing technology realizes the monomer power from watt - level to hundreds of kilowatts and the flexible expansion of megawatt - level under multi - intelligent body parallel connection.
In terms of software ecosystem, it has become the first user - programmable platform in China, providing full - chain development support of "toolchain + model library + debugging system". The algorithm platform is compatible with multiple stack technology routes such as air - cooled and water - cooled.
In terms of scenario integration, from "integrated hydrogen production, storage, and power generation" to "low - altitude hydrogen power", it covers multiple fields such as transportation, energy, and industry, and has in - depth cooperation with leading enterprises such as SPIC, TBEA, Dongfeng, and EVE. Nearly 3,000 sets of products have been put into use.
The production line of "Suyu Technology"
Topband Co., Ltd., one of the investors, believes that "Suyu Technology's fully integrated electronic control platform is the 'greatest common divisor' for the large - scale development of the hydrogen energy industry."
The stack technology route is complex and diverse. Starting from the principle of the hydrogen - electric system, "Suyu Technology" uses an efficient and stable electronic control system as the underlying support, which can meet many stack types, cover more stacks and scenario applications, and is expected to accelerate the commercialization of hydrogen energy in scenarios such as low - altitude economy and shared travel.
"Suyu Technology has opened up space for cost reduction through technology and mass production in the hydrogen fuel cell industry, solved the industry's cost pain points, and has a first - mover advantage." Jiaqiao Capital, one of the investors, said that it will continue to pay attention to and look forward to Suyu Technology's empowerment of the hydrogen energy industry, creating diverse scenarios and promoting industrial transformation.
Get Rid of Infrastructure Dependence through Diversified Applications
The popularization and application of new energy are highly dependent on infrastructure construction. Different from the large - scale spread of lithium batteries, the construction of hydrogen energy infrastructure needs to comprehensively consider factors such as hydrogen energy supply capacity, economy, and market space, and be scientifically optimized and steadily promoted. Against this background, new ideas are needed for the implementation and application of hydrogen energy.
"Suyu Technology" did not enter high - infrastructure and fixed - scenario fields such as new energy vehicles at the beginning. Instead, it targeted diversified applications such as low - altitude economy, sharing economy, special working conditions, and high - computing power.
In diversified scenarios, the choice of hydrogen energy stacks is more diverse. The electronic control technology of "Suyu Technology" is compatible with more than ten types of stacks on the market, such as air - cooled, closed - type air - cooled, high - temperature water - cooled, and low - temperature water - cooled. Its advantage is that it can ensure the stable operation of the stack and provide power for equipment even in scenarios lacking perfect infrastructure such as remote areas.
"Integrated electronic control is not just an integrated innovation of hardware, but the construction of a complete hydrogen energy digital ecosystem." Dong Zhen believes that through the "digital foundation" of the electronic control platform, Suyu Technology is promoting the shift of hydrogen energy from "infrastructure - dependent" to "scenario - driven", highly integrating subsystems across the board, realizing the full - process development and verification of electronic control - system - terminal, and conducting forward - looking product design and standard product incubation based on the characteristics of hydrogen energy to provide comprehensive solutions for diversified application scenarios.
In the field of green low - altitude economy, hydrogen energy can better meet the requirements of long - range and high - payload in air transportation. "Suyu Technology" has formed standard hydrogen - power module products and a hydrogen - power aircraft development platform. The platform supports secondary development, and modular expansion can cover the needs of multi - power models, helping multi - rotor aircraft achieve a payload of over 100 kg and a flight time of over 1 hour. In 2024, the phased verification product "intelligent and safe hydrogen - power drone" won the Gold Award at the 49th Geneva International Invention Exhibition and other awards.
In the field of shared green travel, "Suyu Technology" has realized the integrated intelligent management of the power system electronic control, motor speed control, and vehicle IOT, forming a full - chain closed - loop ecosystem of vehicle development - operation and maintenance platform - product upgrade, providing standardized power system solutions for power - assisted vehicles, and supporting the platform - based development, transformation, and implementation of innovative products. It has formed strategic cooperation with more than 20 stack enterprises, more than 10 hydrogen storage system enterprises, and frame manufacturers, and has carried out deployment and operation in multiple places in the Yangtze River Delta region, serving more than 40,000 people in 5 months.
Products of "Suyu Technology" such as drones and shared electric vehicles
In addition, "Suyu Technology" has developed a hydrogen power generation system in special working conditions such as low - temperature and high - altitude areas where lithium batteries are not suitable for development, and has also laid out in the direction of high - computing - power data centers to meet future energy density requirements.
Dong Zhen believes that only hydrogen energy products developed through forward - looking design based on the digital foundation built by the integrated electronic control software ecosystem platform can truly enhance the industry value and market ceiling. At present, the hydrogen - electric coupling system products of "Suyu Technology" have been applied in multiple fields such as hydrogen energy storage power generation, emergency power supply, electric ships, light and heavy vehicles, and large - payload and long - endurance aircraft, achieving large - scale mass production of standard products, with an average annual sales revenue growth of 300%.
In terms of industrial implementation, the technology R & D center of "Suyu Technology" is located in Wujiang Development Zone, Suzhou. Wujiang Dongfang State - owned Assets, one of the investors, said that "As a key link in the hydrogen energy industry chain, the fully integrated electronic control of Suyu Technology can effectively connect the upstream and downstream links of hydrogen production, storage, utilization, and scenario - based applications." Wujiang District is actively building a hydrogen energy ecological industry chain and continues to be optimistic about new - quality productivity hard - core technology enterprises represented by Suyu Technology.
In addition, "Suyu Technology" is planning to build an industrialization base and a green hydrogen energy ecological demonstration base, covering scenarios such as hydrogen production from photovoltaic and wind power, hydrogen storage and power generation, and combined heat and power supply, to drive the coordinated development of relevant industrial chains.
In the future, "Suyu Technology" will continue to contribute excellent electronic control solutions to the hydrogen energy industry chain, provide forward - looking development platforms such as shared hydrogen energy carriers and low - altitude hydrogen - power aircraft for hydrogen energy community - based scenario applications, and hopes to participate in the long - term construction of the hydrogen energy science and engineering discipline, deeply undertake or participate in national - level demonstration projects, and overcome the bottleneck problems at the system level of energy interconnection.
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This article is from the WeChat official account "36Kr Future Industries". Author: Zhang Bingbing, A Zhi. Republished by 36Kr with permission.